This coming Sunday evening in Israel and around the Jewish world, is the Holocaust Remembrance Day (in Hebrew, 'Yom Ha'Shoah'). It is a well-known, accepted and respected reality amongst the Jewish people that the horrors of World War II and the atrocities against the Jewish people are a national tragedy. Few, however, are aware that this national tragedy became a de facto national strategy, as well.
A few years ago I addressed this concept in my book titled, The Holocaust is Over; We Must Rise From its Ashes (Palgrave Macmillan 2008). In the book I argued that we must always remember the victims, their hopes, prayers and legacies, but we should never allow ourselves to live, or get permanently stuck, in that traumatic past. I fully believe that we have to think about our today and tomorrow differently than this terrible past. Therefore, I offered a new national strategy in which we, as a people, can and must move from trauma to trust. Many were incapable of listening to me and to such ideas and rejected it outright, while others embraced it with enthusiasm. Of those who accepted my proposal were my teachers and mentors; my children. I would like to share with you several passages from the book that were inspired by their wisdom. I hope to convey through these excerpts the origin of my proposed strategy and the importance of implementing it today for ourselves and for our future generations:
"I look at the photos that my children send me from their travels around the world. I try to perceive the faraway landscapes from their vantage point and to share their experience through the images. They travel not only to distance themselves from the impure experiences of an army, war, occupation, corruption and cynicism, but also in search of other landscapes, spiritual ones. The new spirituality that is revealed to them is contained in their letters home. We miss you, Dad, we long and yearn to be with you, but we find here what we don't have at home. We love and want to love even more. We, the generation of the new age, are open to and enriched by meetings and encounters with whatever is different from us. We are not threatened and do not keep to ourselves; on the contrary. My children, our children, seek an encounter with worlds that have not been tainted with the bloody Shoah. They search for a spirituality that is based on dialogue, not trauma. They seek the calm of Buddhist countries and want to bring it back home with them to put us all on a softer course of life that is accepting and containing, not hostile, suspicious, sharp-edged and rejects all. They are children who touch the spiritual even though they are not religious..."
"The new paradigms that originated from the Shoah must be sensitive and directed toward the creation of a better human and better humanity, toward people and cultures that will never again produce slaughterers like the Nazis and will not allow victimization. One law will be in the land for the persecuted of the entire world, whatever group: Armenian, Gypsy, Jew, homosexual, migrant, or a refugee from Rwanda, Cambodia, or Palestine. The new theology, especially the Jewish one, must break out of the boundaries of the old faith and make the faith in the human, God's creation, a tenet of its legacy and traditions, as a mandatory basis for a dialogue between the believers of all faiths..."
'Two people emerged from Auschwitz,' wrote Professor Yehuda Elkana, a wise man, a Shoah survivor, and an early mentor to me, 'a minority that claims 'this will never happen
again,' and a frightened majority that claims: 'this will never happen to us again.'"
During this sad and moving weekend, when I will think about my dear ones, the innocents who were perished at the hands of the Nazis, I will be comforted by the wisdom of my children and my teachers. And again, as in previous years, I will renew my vow: Never Again! Not just for us -- the Jews -- only, but for all of humanity. "For this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes, Ch. 12 v.13).
May Their Memory be a Blessing!
Follow Avraham Burg on Twitter: www.twitter.com/avrum1
Marshall J. Breger: International Holocaust Remembrance Day: Bringing Imams to Auschwitz
Brad Hirschfield: Holocaust Remembrance: Who Owns Memory?
Brad Hirschfield: Tisha B'Av 2010: How Much Mourning Does Anybody Need?
Sander Hicks: The Life of Luna, Holocaust Survivor
For Palestine to exist as a sovereign state, they need an army and a government. They should be allowed to have a navy (for the tiny coast that's left for them) an air force and a ground army to defend their territory and their population from invading/occupying forces. Theirs would be the one army in the world truly used for self defense.
Israel, NATO and US forces are aggressive war machines: they invade and occupy. The rest of the world's armies are mostly for deterrence, if not occasionally used against their own population, if they are trained by the SOA/WHINSEC in Georgia, USA.
The Palestinian are not only denied a territory, they're also denied an army to defend themselves with and a government of their own choosing. Since Israel stepped in, they lost all their freedom.
In response to ‘it will never happen to us again’ Israel developed nuclear weapons thinking like Samson ‘’ Let me die with the Philistines “.
That's why Israel never signed the nuclear treaty.
Now there is no way back. What does it matter who’ll be the first one to ignite the nuclear fuse?
Israel, Iran or Pakistan.
By refusing to sign International treaties concerning nuclear weapons Israel is giving the right excuse to all the country around to develop their own.
"...Never Again! Not just for us -- the Jews -- only, but for all of humanity. "For this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes, Ch. 12 v.13)..."
There isnt really much more to say than this.
I think that everyone, no matter who you are, or your religion, where you live or what you look like want the same thing...peace, safety, security.
I think sir, if we can speak louder than all of the 'apologists' out there on both sides, we can get this message through. I see, you and I...made enemies by the "common alternative truth" can do that...and the many others of this world. I see it happening, you just did it in your own words.
Our time is changing, or view of this conflict as a world is changing because the conversation is being shared, and we all have a voice. I see it coming to an end, not by bullets, tanks, rockets, and airplanes, but by the overwhelming call for peace by those whose voices have been muted.
We must all work together though...never again for me because I wont let it happen to you. I hope sir, you feel the same.
I fully agree with your posts here. And with the energy you gave me I go now to east Jerusalem, to Scheik Jarach, to visit the Palestinian refugees and to demonstrate against war, hatred and occupation. Thank you very much
Avrum
Thank you very much.
"Never again!”- Never again for every human being on this Earth.
We are all concerned here!
What ever our background or our religion is: this is our reality.
We are all active parts of a World where our children should have the right to grow in harmony and peace.
We all live in a World where racism shouldn't be part of our children’s' vocabulary or thoughts. Where "Peace " "Harmony" and "Tolerance" should have a better status then just the word "Hope".
We all live in a World where our Children should be able to grow and live together without the actual handicap of a predisposed trauma or a predisposed aggressiveness.
My brothers are all others forever hand in hand..........
My brothers fears are my fears yellow white or brown
My brothers tears are my tears the whole wide world around.....
Let slavery's chains be broken the whole wide world around.
It is a reasonable question for Diaspora Jews in general and Dr. Elkaria why so few ( statistically speaking have fought against gradual tightening of the noose in 30s-40s all across occupied Europe. And yes, I know all about Warsaw ghetto rebellion and Jewish resistance movements. They were tiny in numbers.
Many Jews fought fiercely socialist ideals What happened?
The people who bravely defended themselves against onslaught of Arab armies in 1948 managed to get rid of the archetype of the religious, bookish and weak ghetto Jew. And built a nation of free men and women.
If they would've failed, we've be talking about Holocaust 1 and Holocaust 2 right now.
And it is behind the backs of those who still defend Jews in Israel from annihilation that some can afford to have a leisurely discussion about magnanimity and universal brotherhood to exist.
But wait, I see Jews in the Europe, Canada and the U.S. prospering immensely and happy to call these places home. They didn't need Zionism to save them from some imaginary Holocaust 2.
Israel will never move forward with legitimacy until there is reconciliation and justice for all. The Jews who fought Arab armies in 1948 are the same ones who caused a nation of Palestinians great suffering. When one man's paradise is another man's hell; no one is really happy or secure, and to imagine one is under those circumstances is to cling to a dangerous illusion.
There is a permanent competition of traumas here. “You had a trauma? Wait till you see mine”. “Yours is a trauma? Min is bigger”. Without respect and accept of the other's pain, mine will not be recognized and respected as well.
Does that include the Jews of Malmo, Sweden?
Does that include this Jew?
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Machete+used+attackers+students/2766537/story.html
Maybe what you see, skialethia, is not always what is really happening.
For a while, the Jews of Germany were prospering immensely and were quite happy to call it home. But that didn't last forever. There is no guarantee that things won't change in America and Canada. The Jewish nation has lasted longer than any modern state. They need to think in the long term.
"get rid of the archetype of the religious, bookish and weak ghetto Jew. And built a nation of free men and women."
If it is true that Zionist wante to "get rid of the archetype of the religious, bookish and weak ghetto Jew", does that make them "self-hating" Jews?
And what was the nature of Zionism relationship with the Chasidic Jews of Hungary and the Pale of Settlement who embodied that archetype?
And the Zionist ideal of "buil[ding] a nation of free men and women" is indeed glorious, but when its fruition depends on clearing land of it native inhabitants and cleansing it of their cultural imprint, then Zionism's moral underpinnings are obliterated and from being a glorious ideal it becomes a crime against humanity.
Peace is wonderful.. but traditionally it comes on the heels of men of courage willing to confront evil and yes, sometimes, even to strike first to ensure it is defeated. Make no mistake.. if Iran has the bomb, it will use it!!
What is covert draws suspicion and mistrust. Peace will happen when everyone is asked to disarm without exception.
Tehran has I believe the highest population of jews in the ME outside of Israel. They would have been killed long ago if genocide were the aim.
Despite Netanyahu's words Iranians are not Amalek.
If Iran is building a bomb at all it is for the same reason any nation seeks them - for deterrence. Who can blame them after their eastern (Afghanistan) and western (iraq) neighbours were invaded by the US, with Israel banging the war drum for nearly a decade now that Iran is next.
There is the issue of the IDF humiliation at the hands of Iran-backed Hezbollah. Just accept the defeat and stop seeking revenge.
My Aunt was certainly traumatized by that event but she continues to share her memories and is determined that no one should forget. I gladly accept that responsibility in her name and for the many others who survive and for those who didn't.
Shalom
What more can one ask for? And yet...?
You can't escape the landscape of "war, occupation, corruption and cynicism".
Why can't your people see the blessing in disguise?
"Not just for us -- the Jews -- only, but for all of humanity."
"Humanity", being the operative word -- "For this is the whole duty of man""
(Your words are a breath of fresh air.)
It is your approach that to me, pays true respect to the memory of those who perished, asking, requiring, and extracting nothing from their memory but the opportunity to learn the lesson and apply it as a universal maxim: never again.
remember specifically the estimated 6 million persons , including an
estimated 1.5 million jewish children who were murdered because of their
religion.
There were , of course, an estimated 50 million people who died in World
War II, including an estimated 5-6 million non jews such as roma,
russian prisoners of war, homosexuals, etc who were also targeted.
Nobody , in my voew, denies their death and each of their communities
remembers them in their own ways..
Reading the comments on the articles about the Holocaust Remember Day ,
a small minority argues that not only jewish victims. be formally
remembered.
They are , all victims of genocides are remembered indirectly by
remembering the Holocaust. I do not know of any jewish person who does
not also include kaddish for all people who have been killed in not
only the Holocaust but other genocides.
The Holocaust Remembrance , it seems to me, is to commemorate the
horrible atrocities not only against Jews, but all humankind for the
Holocaust per say was not only against Jews, but the against them
because they were living beings even though for the Nazis they were
"pieces.".
To remember, in my view, is to be forewarned that it may happen again on
a scale such as it happened in the Holocaust.
Often indifference to genocides and other brutalities , still , in
the world today, seems to me alarming.
This article cites many historians whose numbers range from 30 % to almost 70% for the Roma population of Europe.
The extermination of Romanies was started as early as 1933 while camps were being established by the Nazis to contain Romanies at Dachau, Dieselstrasse, Mahrzan and Vennhausen. The vast majority of Romanies were to suffer the same indignities as the Jews. The Society for Threatened Peoples estimates the casualties at 277,100.[23] Martin Gilbert estimates a total of more than 220,000 of the 700,000 Romani in Europe, including 15,000 (mainly from the Soviet Union) in Mauthausen in January–May 1945.[24] The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum cites scholars that estimate the number of Sinti and Roma killed to lie between 220,000 and 500,000.[25] Dr. Sybil Milton, a historian at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Research Institute, estimated the number of Romani lives lost to be up to 1,500,000.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porajmos
If only ONE innocent person died, it is a Holocaust. We should remember them all, even the Jewish people as this is the day they have chosen to remember.
I, a Malay, who was born just after WW2 hear the stories of my elders and parents about the Japanese occupation. It was brutal, especially to the indiginous peoples of Borneo, where I am from, and from where I trace my roots.
We remember those who suffered where I lived, as the Jews do in Israel, although no one in the west really heard the stories of my family. However, the stories of the Jews during that time are the same as what I was told. I think suffering is the same. We should remember so that one day...as the blogger says...Never Again means...Never Again to anyone, no matter who you are.
Let us look at this day...a day to remember all who suffer...suffering is the same, no matter who you are.
Jewish groups are in the forefront of the lobby to save Darfuris, to give Tibetans more rights and so on.
I am Jewish and although the Holocaust is a highly personal experience for me since most of my family perished in it, I am fully aware that it only makes sense to mourn and to remember if that means making a better future for ALL and learning its many lessons. The Holocaust rekindles not only my Jewishness but most importantly, my humanity.
Shame on you for being so condescending when describing Jews' relationship to the Holocaust.
Why did Israel exclusively set the example for the community of nations? The first to arrive in Haiti were rescue teams from Iceland and China, as well as a rescue team and medical team from Venezuela and hundreds of doctors and nurses from Cuba. They just didn't get any U.S. media attention.
It’s not about singling out Jewish charity groups and disregarding the obvious. There are a multitude of non-Jewish charities, Christian charities and secular charities also doing great work.
Israelis can’t ignore the elephant in the room by doing something to draw attention to themselves while the elephant is screaming in pain.
There’s a significance behind “charity begins a home” that eludes everyone. Real charity represents a “healing and/or awakening experience” manifested by a spiritual challenge to one’s faith and associated with a lesson in selflessness, compassion, forgiveness or all of these.
Israelis and Jews who support the state of Israel have been presented with such a challenge or “opportunity” to experience freedom and spiritual rebirth but unfortunately it’s being postponed, squandered, ignored and rejected by the majority as if it were a curse instead of the blessing it really is.
Israelis must stop postponing the inevitable and do right by the Palestinians. It all begins with this leap of faith.
Or consider the Saudis, who were roundly criticised for 'doing nothing' by those who ignored that the World Food Program, which had been feeding the Haitians for months before the earthquake was single handedly bailed out by the Saudis when the rest of the world refused to give it any more money to deal with spiraling food prices.
Trying to Chekov the world's response to a crisis brings no honour, and in fact besmirches everyone.
I just do not agree with how condescending you are in the article when saying that most Jews don't see it that way.
So the US can't take a position against Sammy Davis Jr., Jr. Ahmadinejad unless Israel gets rid of its alleged nukes? That makes a lot of sense.
Yes, joeinvt, you're right, it does make a lot of sense.
For the US to bitch about the dangers to the ME of Iran getting the bomb, which itself is only a possibilty of a possibilty, when the entire word knows that the USA's bosom buddy Israel has hundreds of actual useable nuclear weapons, is an act of astounding hypocrisy in a world full of hypocrisy.
That's not peace, it's not respect and it's inhumane.
Icelidon writes: [w]ith all of the horrible discrimination the Jewish people endured, can't they have a little compassion towards the Palestinians and consider a just and honest peace plan....
shotei responds: They already did and are doing it right now.
If what the Israeli Jews are doing to the Palestinians is showing compassion, justice and honesty, I shudder to think what the plight of the Palestinians might be if they were being treated with coldness, injustice and duplicity.